Housing Watch: Dip in Valley home prices could be near, experts say

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Research shows average home prices around the country have started to dip around the US.

"What we found is that for the first time in two years, essentially since the height of the pandemic, we are starting to see housing prices decline nationwide," says QuoteWizard Senior Analyst Nick VinZant.

VinZant says California has been the hardest hit state.

Between June and August, the average price of a house in the Golden State dropped by $12,205.

"That is a significant change considering that it was just going up and up and up and up," he said. "Some places, 30-50% in two years."

Those types of increases were seen here in the Central Valley and at this point, housing prices haven't seen any significant drops.

The average price of a Fresno County home sold in August was $391,000 - up 1% from June.

But VinZant expects that trend to change.

"So far, what we are seeing in Fresno is that prices are continuing to increase, but that increase is slowing down and I think you're going to start to see a decrease soon," he said.

Tulare County prices were down .4% during that same time.

A year ago, homes were on the market for less than a week before they sold.

Now, sellers are having to drop prices in a soft market.

"If there's a home on the market for 30-40 days and it has not sold, the market is telling you that that's not the price anymore," says Prosperity Home Loans Mortgage Consultant Scott Reba. "It might have been a year ago but today, the market is correcting you."

VinZant expects, as part of the correction, Valley home prices will continue to drop over the next few months.

The markets where housing prices fell the most between June and August were San Jose, where homes dropped by $93,000 and San Francisco, which saw a $42,000 price decrease.